Hamza Mansour calls for an Islamic-Christian lobby to confront the Israeli lobby

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Hamza Mansour, secretary-general of the Islamic Action Front, the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, called for the formation of an influential Islamic-Christian lobby to confront the Israeli lobby, and to serve the nation principal issues, topped by the Palestinian cause.

"The needed challenge before Muslim and Christian clergy, and Islamist politicians, is to adopt a joint program to promote tolerance and cooperation's values on two levels: on the internal level, it would reinforce national unity, and on the external level, it would serve the nation principal issues, topped by the Palestinian cause, to form an Islamic-Christian lobby to confront the Israeli lobby, Mansour said in "Islamists and Arab Christians" seminar held by Middle East Studies center in collaboration with the Royal Institute for Religious Studies in Amman yesterday.

Mansour added that with the Arab spring atmosphere and with the Islamists rising through the ballot box, questions are being asked about the Christians' security and the rights they gained. Some of questions and fears are justified, especially that there was a break from Islamic rule for a long period and the struggle with western colonial powers allowed for the growth of extremist trends that confuses colonizers with citizens, something which is foreign  to Islam culture and thought. Some of these are part of  an organized campaign against the Islamists, led by external hostile parties to Islam as well as some secularists who are against anything connected with religion.

Today we find ourselves obliged to highlight Islamists' visions and theory in dealing with Arab Christians, in order to correct misconceptions for some people, to reassure the Arab Christians who are part of the fabric of the nation, to establish a relationship based on citizenship.

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